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What You Didn't See

**Again, I'll start this off by saying I don't really understand my tool and I'm becoming more confused every time I try to use it.

What Can't the Tool Help You See?

The tool in question provides visuals of word frequencies, numerical data, trends and associations but it does not provide much information past that. It doesn't highlight the contextual meaning of the word or how the connotations of the word could shift depending on the language surrounding it or context its used in. It doesn't portray the emotional or aesthetic/visual of poetry, it's too analytical. It doesn't take any cultural or historic meaning into account when dissecting the given data.

Limitations and Bias

This tool has A LOT of limitations and if it were not for this class, I would personally never use it. It takes a quantitative approach more than qualitative and I think for what we are learning currently this is not very helpful. Being biased towards numerical and analytical data creates a barrier between any readings that could rely on emotions, culture, history or personal preference. The visuals that are displayed such as the words and graphs are honestly more confusing than helpful, and I feel that the screen is almost too cluttered to focus and understand.

Ideology

This tool is powered by data-driven analysis. It excludes subjective interpretation and lived experiences which are often times important for literary criticism. It seems to promote a detachment of the human elements of literature to favor the analytical elements which I think causes more harm than good. (However sometimes the analytical data is what we're being asked about so it can be effective in that way)

How to Make it Better

The tool needs to take a more qualitative approach that can delve into the tone, language and emotional meaning of a literary work. It should have a digital archive to pull from in terms of historical context and situational analysis. There needs to be a balance between data and interpretation to create a more wholesome and effective tool.

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What You Saw Post

To be totally honest it took me a couple of minutes to figure out what I was looking at and I'm still not exactly sure, but I think I kind of understand the breakdown. Voyant displays:

Trends - show how specific words appear throughout the text

Frequency - highlights the most frequently used words, showing prominent themes

Reader - displays what you're analyzing

Summary - displays vocabulary density, readability index and average words per sentence

I don't really understand my tool so I definitely need to do some more research into it and its usefulness. But what I can say is that it has a visual emphasis on key terms like "worm", "rose" and "dark" which shows contrasts between beauty (the rose) and decay (worm) and darkness. It shows connections between terms and the frequency they appear at, seeing how the words relate visually and how close they are or aren't to each other offers a deeper level of thinking and analyzing. Textual patterns and contextual relationships are easier to see after the trends are analyzed. Overall I'd say that the tool is made to enhance critical thinking and provides a multi-dimensional way of analyzing different texts.

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Post for 9/18

The digital tool assigned to me is called "Voyant Tools." Voyant Tools is a web-based text reading and analysis tool. According to the site it is "a scholarly project that's designed to facilitate reading and interpretive practices for digital humanities students and scholars as well as for the general public." It was created with the following design principles in mind: modularity, generalization, flexibility, internationalization, performance, separation of concerns, simplicity and many more. We can use it to learn how computers-assisted analysis works and utilize its functionality. It can be used to add interactive evidence to essays that we publish online and studies texts that we find on the web or that we have carefully edited. I've never heard of this tool before so I'm intrigued to see how it can enhance my writing and help aid me in literary criticism. It seems to be a trusted analysis source that I can run works and ideas by.

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It may be hard to tell in the photo but my lamp shade is ever so slightly tilted and it keeps catching my eye even as a small detail

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Step 5:

The first two phrases speak to the narrators broken mental state and inner emotional turmoil. “I am not taken I am standing in the rain falling” refers to being overwhelmed and lost. Sleep is usually where most people find peace but “break into where I sleep” suggests a sense of vulnerability where her thoughts are being invaded. The third phrase “there is no one to want me to pieces” highlights the isolation and loneliness/disconnection the narrator experiences. The mention of a shared experience in the last phrase could refer to the importance of having other human connections and relationships.

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Act IV focuses on themes of the complexities of power and politics, the consequences of actions and raises questions about madness and sanity. I think one of the main things highlighted in Act IV is the transformation that many of the characters undergo. Ophelia has her descent into madness that ultimately ends in her death and Hamlet’s inner turmoil and ramblings swirled around in his head. It explores themes of revenge, death, morality, and betrayal. 

I choose this passage because it explains the complexities of parent child relations and how far one is willing to go for family. It creates a contrast of Laertes and his paternal relationship vs. Hamlet and his father.

The term/figure of speech that I think is interesting or imagistic is “There lives within the very flame of love A kind of wick or snuff that will abate it;” This quote relates to the ideas we see at play in the act because it talks about how love can be abated (lessened or reduced) quickly by a wick or snuff. The love between a parent and a child or the love between a man and a woman. However everything seems to ultimately end in death.

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After watching Act I of Kenneth Branagh's adaption of Hamlet, one of the things that I noticed that was different from Shakespeare's original text was the setting. In the script the time frame is set somewhere in the Renaissance era between the 12th-15th century vs. in the movie it's placed in the Victorian era 17-1800s (concluded based of the architecture). Watching the opening scene in the movie seemed much more dramatic than reading it which is why I think the director chose to portray it that way. I feel like the effect of the scene was greater. The amount of people shown at the wedding was another difference. When I read it, the ceremony seemed like a much smaller more intimate ceremony, not one where the entire royal court was invited. It was also interesting to see how everyone in the ballroom was wearing shades of white, red and gold while Hamlet was the sole member wearing black. Black is associated with mourning and despair indicating that Hamlet has not moved on from his father's death and is instead still stuck in what everyone else now deems the past. I also found it odd that the conversation between Hamlet, his mother and his uncle was had in front of the entire court. The things they were discussing would be considered private at least in my mind. His uncle seems like a good man but the fact that his mother married him after only a month had passed since her late husband's death is unsettling.

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Frost Homework

1. Create a Level: 

First 18 lines of Frost’s poem 

2. Build an Inventory:

snarled and rattled

lifted eyes 

ran light 

saw

hand

sticks of wood

bear a load 

breeze drew 

3. Assume a Role:

When I chose these words, I was trying to highlight… (saw perspective)

Snarled and rattled - made loud scary noises to scare people away

Lifted eyes - draw attention to 

Saw - self explanatory 

Hand - careful where you put your hands when using a saw 

Sticks of wood - oftentimes saws are used to cut wood to repurpose it 

4. Assume another Role:

When I chose these words, I was trying to highlight… (sister perspective)

Lifted eyes - draw attention to 

Ran light - creating sparks of light; illuminating 

Bear a load - taking on the task of caring for her brother 

Breeze drew - fresh air allowing room and time to breathe

5. Make a Move:

The text uses these words to highlight the juxtaposition between light and darkness and life and death. The poem generates a sense of impending doom that is emphasized by the words chosen. Death strikes suddenly and life can be ended within mere seconds, human frailty I suppose. 

6. Level 2:

outcry 

rueful laugh

keep the life from spilling 

spoiled 

dark of ether 

pulse took fright 

the watcher 

big boy 

7. Navigate the new Level:

This poem emphasizes the contrast between life and death. The words "out" and "dark" help support that claim. The poem serves as a reminder of the inevitability of death and the fragility of human existence. Life is unpredictable you never know what will happen next or what day you may die. The boy succumbed to his obtained injury and eventually died. Spontaneity is a common theme among the living. The passing of time is accounted for by our bodies and the sudden loss of life is always a shock.

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Philosophy of Composition Reflection

I chose this passage because it gives insight into Poe's thoughts on how long a poem should be. He says that the "brevity must be in direct ratio of the intensity of the intended effect," meaning that the length of the poem needs to be determined by the content. They should complement each other to get the most desired effect. Poe was very intentional in the selection of his words, he picked them with a specific purpose in mind. He valued writing with a clear focus.

My sister is an artist, one who uses markers and paintbrushes to produce her masterpieces. Poetry is my form of art; I use words to paint pictures and convey feelings. Poetry is a release, an away to let out emotions and escape reality. Like many others my poetry is drawn from personal experiences. It is different from other forms of writing in that it is usually more condensed than short stories or longer pieces. Oftentimes there is the use of enhanced imagery and unique structural patterns such as rhyme schemes to produce a certain effect which is ultimately different from the effect of other writing styles. To me poetry is much more personal. To read something "as a poem" means to be aware of the poetic literary elements like meter, rhyme, imagery, symbolism. You can look anywhere to find meaning in a poem, even a singular word can hold the most importance. Pay attention to the emotions that the poem makes you feel and how you connect with it on a personal level.

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The [momentary] circumstance was too strong for him; he failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of Time, and, living once for all in Eternity, to find the perfect Future in the present.

The ephemeral circumstance was too strong for him; he failed to look beyond the shadowy scope of Time, and, living once for all in Eternity, to find the perfect Future in the present.

The meaning of the passage changes when you replace momentary with ephemeral. Ephemeral carries a connotation of beauty, delicateness and a more fleeting existence than the word momentary does. It plays into Georgianas angelic nature and adds a spiritual tone to the sentence that was lacking before. Ephemeral could be capitalized like Time, Eternity and Future as it ties into the trio of words in a way that momentary doesn’t.

Momentary implies a very brief life or a fleeting moment. Georgiana’s life was cut short by the hands of her “loving” husband as he could not stand the sight of her Earthly imperfection. Momentary makes you think of a passing thought or in this case a passing life. Hawthorne chose the word momentary to emphasize how your whole life can change in one moment, a single second. In this case Alymer didn’t think of the consequences or the future that would haunt him if he followed through with changing the one flaw on the women he loves. Humans aren’t perfect and never will be and by trying to achieve that perfection he took the life of the one person he was supposed to love above all else.

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For “form” I photographed a picture of the Oswego swim teams meet schedule. At the top of this schedule there is a picture of a male swimmer who is swimming freestyle and the photo shows his stroke form and how his arm will enter the water. It’s demonstrating form as a figure.

For “imagination” I photographed a small abstract drawing I have in my room. I put my pencil on the page and let my imagination take me away when I drew it and imagination stems from an active and creative mind.

Form and imagination are intertwined with one another. For form my photo was that of a male swimmer. Swimming takes a lot of precision and technique so your form is incredibly important. Form used in this way refers to the human body and what standards we have set for ourselves to reach peak athletic form. The drawing I chose for imagination speaks for itself because that’s exactly where it came from, my imagination. Sometimes you just need to let your hand move and draw or write whatever comes to your mind in the moment, that’s the beauty of your imagination. It’s limitless. Some people may try to constrain their imagination and keep it in check or in form, a specific order or method to the madness. Imagination and form can compete with each other in our minds and depending on the person it’s interesting to see which one wins out.

Outside my space I am a swimmer on the Oswego Swim and Dive team (OSS&D). The picture I took was of our meet schedule for the 2023-2024 season. Swimming is a passion of mine just as poetry is. The drawing was something I did when I was bored and I happened to like the way it looked so I kept it. My sister is an artist and she gives me some of her work from time to time as well.